MADISON, Wis. — Black voters have a huge impact on presidential elections.
According to a political scientist in Madison, there’s two reasons: Black voter turnout in Milwaukee County and a frame work called “linked faith.”
“If you go back to the year 2000, all of the elections, except for the two involving Obama have been decided by 1% of the vote or less.” said retired University Wisconsin-Madison professor, David Canon.
“And so one of the decisive factors in all of those elections is the turnout in Milwaukee County.” “Because in Milwaukee County, the black vote has traditionally been about 90% Democratic.” “And so if you get a higher turnout in Milwaukee you know that every single percent of the vote is thousands of votes for the Democratic candidate,” said Canon.
Linked faith is coined by a social scientist.
“Where they believe that the belief that their interests are aligned with their group interests.” “So while many other voting blocs think of their own self-interest to vote, many Black Americans think about their own, livelihoods and their group livelihoods,” said Andrene Wright, an assistant professor & social scientist at UW-Madison.